Boulder homeless feeling the squeeze on Pearl Street Mall

Alex Warrd, center, and his wife Tiffany give money to "Spyder", last name not given, at right, while he was panhandling on the Pearl Street Mall on Monday in Boulder.
(Jeremy Papasso)

On a sunny spring day, local transient Jerry Rosen stands on the Pearl Street Mall selling copies of "The Voice," a newsletter produced by the homeless. For Rosen, it's always been his spot.

"It's a great nice setup," Rosen said of the mall.

For many transients, the combination of heavy foot traffic, food and nearby resources make Pearl Street an ideal spot to spend the day.

But, with the implementation of a smoking ban that in its first two months has seen more than half of its violations committed by transients, some homeless think the city and downtown business are trying to make life a little less comfortable for them in the hope they move off of the highly visible tourist destination.

"It raises some diversity and sincerity questions," a transient who only identified himself only as Ed said of the smoking ban. Ed said that while the city can't simply kick the homeless off Pearl Street, he said the recent rules were an example of how they could still be targeted.

"You get around that by restricting something a certain group of people do," Ed said.

In the first two months since police officially began enforcing the smoking ban on April 1, officers have issued 44 tickets to people for smoking on the Pearl Street Mall. Of those who were issued tickets, 24 -- 54 percent -- were qualified as transient or homeless, according to police records.

"I think there's no question it affects them more than others," said David Harrison, a Boulder attorney who has often represented transients. "I'm sure there wasn't any direct comment that it might be a good way to keep the homeless out of the mall area, but that seems like an obvious result of passing that rule."

Harrison pointed at the city's existing camping ban and a law passed last year during the height of the Occupy Boulder movement that made being in city parks between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. illegal as evidence that the city has been willing to pass laws designed to drive away the homeless.

"I think the city has certainly shown a willingness to pass rules and ordinances that have a disparate impact on the homeless," he said.

'Invitation to prejudice'

The ordinance banning all smoking on the mall between 11th and 15th streets went into effect Jan. 18, but officers were not giving out warnings since signs alerting the public to the new law didn't go up until March 21. Officers only started writing tickets on April 1.

The maximum penalty for a first or second offense within two years is a $500 fine, while a third conviction within two years carries a maximum $1,000 fine and a maximum 90-day jail sentence.

Ed -- who does smoke -- said that before officers began enforcing the ban, some officers who were familiar with him and knew he smoked talked to him to warn him they would soon begin writing tickets for violating the ban.

"We had a discussion, and I respect that," Ed said. But he still thinks the smoking ban -- if it wasn't intended to target the homeless -- opens the door for it.

"It's an invitation to prejudice," he said.

But Sean Maher, the executive director of Downtown Boulder Inc. -- one of the groups that helped draft and support the ban -- said the ordinance was never about the homeless.

"The primary driver was health and the issue of secondhand smoke," Maher said. "Boulder has an international reputation as one of the healthiest, fittest cities in the country, and in the world. Why do we want a pedestrian mall full of people smoking cigarettes?"

Maher also said the ban has reduced the amount of cleanup required on the mall.

"For whatever reason, some smokers have this attitude that cigarette butts aren't litter and they can throw them wherever," he said. "We used to spend a lot of time picking butts out of the bricks and planters, and that is way, way, way down since the ban went into effect."

As for the amount of homeless who have been ticketed under the new ordinance, Maher speculated that it was simply a matter of the homeless not heeding warnings by officers.

"If I had to guess the reason why they get more tickets, I think they ignore the warnings," said Maher, who added he has seen people ticketed after blatantly lighting up in front of officers.

"It's made very clear smoking is not allowed on the mall. If that particular demographic is getting more tickets, I think it's because they are more likely to ignore the ban."

George Karakehian, a Boulder City Council member who also owns Art Source International on the Pearl Street Mall, said he has already seen the impact of the ban after a group of people who would regularly smoke right outside his business stopped once the ban went into effect.

"That ended, which is awfully nice," Karakehian said. He added he hoped the ban would curb marijuana use on the mall.

"There is lots of public smoking of marijuana, and it's a pretty popular area for young people and kids, and that's not real positive for children. The smoking ban gives the police officers an opportunity to charge someone with smoking rather than going through possession of marijuana. It's just another tool to help eliminate that issue."

As for the people who have been ticketed, Karakehian said he wasn't shocked to hear more than half were transients.

"If you walk down there you'll see them smoking pretty regularly in groups," he said. "It doesn't surprise me at all."

But Boulder resident Mark Lesniewski -- who regularly stops by the Starbucks on Pearl Street -- said he hates cigarette smoke and always talks to people he sees smoking. He said of the people he talks to, he doesn't notice a large number of transients among them, and that most are in fact visitors to the mall who simply didn't know about the ban.

"It's people who aren't aware of the ban, transient or not," he said. "Of course, transients can stand out to people. Everyone else has money and nice clothes."

Pearl Street problem?

Lesniewski said every day he is at Starbucks, he sees transients come in. But he said he has never considered it a problem or a negative thing.

"I think that's too bad, and kind of small-minded," he said. "We all have a place here."

Not everyone, however, sees things the same way. Maher said while the smoking ban was not in any way directed at transients, their presence on the mall still was a concern.

"Some of the transients on the mall are very aggressive," Maher said. "It is an issue when merchants tell me customers purposely avoid their stretch of the mall 'cause they're scared."

Chris Norris, who runs the Hat Cart on the mall just off 13th Street, said the transients are an "ongoing concern."

"It's not so much their numbers but their behavior," Norris said. "Periodically a new population comes in that's more rowdy, or sometimes some drug passes through the population and you have people who are just messed up.

"I've had some try to steal, they come up to my customers bumming for change or just being drunk and gross. Just the other day I caught one trying to steal an $85 hat."

Lauren Gricci, who works at a software startup on Pearl Street, said she thinks it is especially concerning, having so many transients in an area that serves as one of the main tourist destinations in Boulder.

"It freaks out tourists," she said. "We've had clients come from out of town who are staying at the St. Julien and they walk down the mall and they've commented about (the transients).

"I feel like somebody should do something, though I'm not sure who or what that would be."

Karakehian said in the summer when more homeless find their way onto the mall, it is important for Boulder police to remain visible to keep them from misbehaving.

"I think the police and their increased presence makes a difference," he said.

Added Maher, "The police do a great job down here, though I do think they are stretched a little too thin. The biggest thing is when police are here and visible it has a deterrent effect."

'Need to follow the rules'

Rosen said part of the appeal of the Pearl Street Mall for him is that many people and businesses are friendly toward transients.

"People are mostly nice," he said. "Some are obnoxious and rude, but you get that almost anywhere."

Rosen added that in the wake of the city removing the pay phones he and some other transients used, some businesses have let him use their phones in addition to offering the occasional drink or snack.

"Some businesses are pretty nice," he said.

Maher said that reputation and the large number of panhandling targets are two reasons for the homeless presence on Pearl Street.

"I don't know of a place in the state with heavier foot traffic on a regular basis," Maher said. "Even if only one in 20 gives you anything, with this many people that's a pretty good ratio. Boulder has a reputation nationally as a very safe and comfortable place and an easy place to earn money that way."

Added Harrison, "I think the city certainly has a desire to move the homeless population away from Pearl Street, and I think the downtown business owners likely also have that desire. But that's a challenge because all of the services available to them are in that area. And of course when they try to move it to the north end of Broadway they get pushback from the folks up there. I suspect the city is really struggling with that issue."

But Maher said they are not trying to force the homeless away from the mall, and that they are entitled to enjoy it just so long as they follow the same rules everyone else does.

"The mall is a city park, it's open to everybody," he said. "But nobody has the right to destroy the experience for anybody else. Transients do need to follow the same rules as everybody else, and this year that includes no smoking."

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story